8

Chapter
INQUIRY

CONCEPT

Key

The Mtis

In what ways did the Mtis have an impact on the

development of Western Canada?

Emerging Identities
In earlier chapters, you read about the concept of identity. Your identity is the set
of characteristics and values you use to express who you are. Different groups
within a country can have their own identities, as can individuals. We recognize
that some people may dress differently or follow different religions, speak
different languages, and hold different perspectives or points of view. These are
all ways of expressing an identity.

Citizenship and Identity

One important result of contact between First Nations and Europeans was the
emergence of the Mtis [may-TEE]. The Mtis population grew quickly,
spreading across the land. By the mid-1800s, it was in Red River, Manitoba,
however, that the largest number of Mtis lived. The different groups of Mtis
who lived in Red River came together as a solid community with a shared
identity. They considered themselves citizens of a Mtis Nation, distinct from
the Europeans, Canadiens, and First Nations.
This chapter explores the unique identity of the Red River Mtis. You will
learn about the role they played in the development of the West. You will also
examine the Mtis struggle to protect their identity and way of life.

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Honing
Your Skills
Whether we are in
class, at home, or out
with friends, we are
often asked to share
our thoughts on
different topics. The
Skill Check feature
in this chapter,
Develop an Opinion,
shows you how to do
this. This skill
is important
to your studies
because it will help
you become a
critical thinker.
The project at the
end of the chapter
will ask you to form
and state your
opinion on Mtis
leader Louis Riel.

Points of View and Perspectives on

Mtis Identity ]
Different people described the Mtis in different ways. As you read the following
comments, think about how each one describes the identity of the Mtis people.
They
one and all look upon
themselves as members of an
independent tribe of natives, entitled to a
property in the soil, to a flag of their own,
and to protection from the British
government.
William McGillivray,
fur trader, 1818
Source: Entry on Mtis in The Canadian
Encyclopedia (Toronto: McClelland &
Stewart, 1988), p. 1345.

Source: Hope MacLean, Indians, Inuit,

and Mtis (Toronto: Gage Publishing Ltd.,
1982), p. 101.

Source: Alexander Morris, The Treaties of

Canada with the Indians (Toronto: Belfords
& Clarke, 1880), pp. 293295.

Louis Riel, Mtis leader, 1869

Source: Jennifer Brown, Strangers in Blood (Vancouver:
University of British Columbia Press, 1980).

Identity
is multi-layered. While I paint
flowers to express and celebrate my Mtisness I also have other reasons that dont
necessarily have anything to do with me being Mtis.
They have more to do with a broader sense of myself
as a member of the human race desiring to
contribute something positive to the world.

Source: Purpose in Art and Moving Beyond the Self,

http://www.blackrobin.co.nz/ARCHIVE/MAR2004/BELCOURT/belcourt.html.

Think
AHEAD

Lord Dufferin, Governor General

of Canada, 1872

We may be a small community

but we are men, free and spirited men,
and we will not allow even the Dominion of
Canada to trample on our rights.

We are Indian, we are white

We are rejected by them both
Although we are so lost between
We continue in our growth
As a Mtis
Joel Anderson, 10-year-old Mtis
from Manitoba, 1982

They are the ambassadors

between East and West.

Christi Belcourt, Mtis artist from

Lac Sainte-Anne, Alberta, 2002

Brainstorm reasons why you think it is important to respect another persons or communitys
identity. What could happen if we do not?

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SKILL CHECK: Develop

an Opinion
hen we see and experience the world around us, we form opinions about the
people, places, and events in it. An opinion is a persons thoughts or beliefs
on something. We are all individuals, and our identity, values, and knowledge
influence our opinions. This Skill Check feature will show you how to put careful
thought into forming and stating your opinion.

Explain the Issue ]

An issue is a question to which there are
many answers, but none of the answers
is right or wrong. Here is one issue:
Should school cafeterias stop selling
junk foods to students?

State Your Position

Take time to consider what you already
know about the issue. Ask yourself: Do I
have enough information about this
issue to know how I truly feel about it?
If your answer is no, then you should do
more research. After you have gained a
better understanding of the issue, you
are ready to state your point of view.
Write your opinion as a position
statement; for example: school
cafeterias should stop selling junk foods
to students and instead offer healthy
choices such as fruit and salads.

Research for
Evidence
Read the opinion or editorial
page of a local or provincial
The goal of an opinion
newspaper. Identify one letter
piece is to get the reader
to the editor that you feel is
to agree with your point
especially good. Bring it to
of view. This is a lot
class and explain why you
easier if you include good
feel it is an effective
reasons for your opinion.
opinion piece.

170

Research to find
facts (Junk foods can be harmful.)
examples (Chocolate bars and pop, for
example, can cause tooth decay.)
figures and data (A survey of students
in my school found that 70 per cent
would prefer healthy foods at lunch.)
observations (When I eat unhealthy
foods, I dont have the energy to do
the things I like, such as playing
basketball.)

Write the Closing

Restate your opinion using different
wording than you did at the beginning.
You may also want to summarize the
main reasons you hold your opinion.
You could end your piece with a
thought-provoking statement or
question to get the reader thinking.

Review Your Piece

Is your position statement clear? Will
readers easily understand where you
stand on the issue?
Is your opinion supported by facts
and examples? Are these organized in
a logical way?
Are your spelling and grammar
correct? (Proofread your piece or ask
a classmate to check it to make sure.)

ChapterChapter
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The Mtis

An Emerging Identity in the West

s you learned in earlier chapters, the

first Mtis were the children of First
Nations women and the European men who
came to North America to explore and trade
for furs. Mtis lived all over North
America, wherever these peoples
What are the
came into contact.
origins of the
It was in present-day
Mtis culture in
Manitoba, however, that the largest
Red River?
Mtis community grew. The
Francophone Mtis of Red River
(where Winnipeg is located today) had a
unique culture and identity. In this section,
you will discover how the Mtis came to
identify themselves as a nation.

Focus

The Demographics of
Red River ]
Although the French-speaking Mtis were
the largest group living at Red River, they
werent the only people there. When we
speak about the characteristics of the
people of a particular place, we are

referring to the demographics of the place.

Demographics include information such as
the number of people who live in a town.
The ratio of male to female residents is
another example.
By 1840, there were about 4000
Francophone Mtis in the region. They were
mainly Catholic, like their Canadien
ancestors. However, they also kept some of
their First Nations spiritual beliefs. About
1000 other people also lived near Red River:
Country Born Mtis. The Country Born
were the children of First Nations women
and British traders from the Hudsons Bay
Company. Like their fathers, the Country
Figure 8.1 Red River was located where the
Assiniboine [uh-SIH-nih-boyn] and Red Rivers
meet. How might this location be important to the
Mtis economy? Using GIS software (or another
mapping software) choose two themes of
information to add to a map of this area. For
example, you could include climate and vegetation
layers. Then, explain how these geographical
features might have contributed to the Mtis sense
of community and identity.

Mtis Settlements in the West

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A Story of Canada

Born were usually Protestant. They also

held some First Nations beliefs.
Cree and Anishinabe [a-nih-shih-NAHbee] First Nations.
Roman Catholic missionaries. They
began arriving in the West in 1818. The
missionaries built churches and schools.
These became the centres of Francophone
Mtis communities.
Canadiens. They lived in St. Boniface.
British employees of the Hudsons Bay
Company.

languages, including French, English, and

one or more First Nations languages.
Many Mtis at Red River also spoke
their own language, called Michif [meeSHEEF]. It linked their First Nations and
Canadien or English identities by mixing
French, English, Cree, and Anishinabe
words. Fewer than a thousand people still
speak Michif in Canada today.

Shared Culture of the

Red River Mtis
In Chapter 1, you examined the various
aspects of culture (see page 4). You saw how
the First Nations, the Canadiens, and the
English colonists each had their own
distinct ways of life. The Red River Mtis
shared a unique culture in the 1800s that
helped shape their identity. They developed
their own language, artistic style, poetry,
music, dance, economy, and values.

Language
The Mtis were raised by parents of both
First Nations and European descent. This
gave them the opportunity to learn several

Figure 8.2 Many Mtis women, such as Mrs. La

Valle from Waskesiu, Saskatchewan, were skilled
leather workers. They decorated leather items and
clothing with colourful thread, beads, tin, and
other materials. Some First Nations called the
Mtis the flower beadwork people. The date of
this photograph is unknown. Analyze the photo for
clues that might lead you to an approximate date.

VOICES
Some Michif Phrases
Tnishi kiya?

How are you?

Dishinikshon Alice.

My name is Alice.

Tnde wkyan?

Where do you live?

Mars eki pe'itoteyek. Thank you for coming.

172

Respond
1. Some people are trying to make
sure that the Michif language
never disappears. Think of some
ways a community can help
keep a language alive.
2. Some Canadians learned
another language before they
learned English. Should these
people make an effort to
maintain their first languages?
Write a short opinion piece on
this issue.

ChapterChapter
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The Mtis

entity
IdIdentity
Pierre Falcon (17931876), The Bard of the Prairies
Pierre Falcon was one of the best-known Mtis poets and
songwriters. He was a Francophone-Cree fur trader who
later farmed at Red River. His songs tell the stories of
important events in Mtis history. For example, he
wrote a song about the armed clash at Seven Oaks
(a battle you will read about in the next section).
We took three foreigners prisoners when
We came to the place called Frog, Frog Plain.
They were men whod come from Orkney,
Whod come, you see,
To rob our country.
Well, we were just about to unhorse
When we heard two of us give, give voice.
Two of our men cried, Hey! Look back, look back
The Anglo-Sack coming for to attack
Source: Margaret Arnett MacLeod, comp. and ed.,
Songs of Old Manitoba (Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1959),
pp. 59, translated by James Reaney.

Falcon also wrote ballads about life in the fur trade

and on the buffalo hunt. Mtis sang his songs as they
sat around campfires or paddled canoes. Falcon Lake
in Manitoba was named after him.

Figure 8.3 Pierre Falcon. Are

song lyrics primary or secondary
sources of information? Refer
to the Skill Check feature on
page 6 to remind yourself of the
differences between these types
of sources.

Tech Link
Open the Voices
and Visions CD-ROM
to hear one of Falcons
songs sung by Mtis
people of present-day
Manitoba.

Figure 8.4 Members of the Turtle

Mountain Dancers, a Mtis troupe,
performing at the Manitoba
Indigenous Summer Games, 2003, in
Brandon, Manitoba. What kind of
music do you like? Explain the roles
music and dancing play in your life.

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There are different views on the

question Who is a Mtis?
About 300 000 people identified
themselves as Mtis in the 2001
Canadian census.
Like their ancestors, presentday Mtis face many challenges.
They still struggle for land rights
and hunting and fishing rights. The
Mtis have formed associations
that promote their identity. These
groups also help the Mtis in
their struggle to gain rights and
opportunities equal to those of
the First Nations.

A Story of Canada

Figure 8.5 The Mtis flag dates back to the early

nineteenth century. It is about 150 years older than the
Canadian flag! The infinity symbol represents the coming
together of European and First Nations peoples to form a
new people, the Mtis. It also suggests that the Mtis
people will exist forever. Citizenship and Identity: Why do
you think it was important to the Mtis people to have
their own flag?

Shared Economy[]
Over the years, the Mtis developed a
unique economy. They made a living based
on the climate of their territory and on the
resources found in it. They took jobs in the
fur trade and hunted the buffalo that grazed
in the western grasslands. When they

werent hunting, they grew crops on narrow

river lots, similar to the seigneurial system
used in Qubec. The Mtis expressed both
their First Nations and European or
Canadien identities through this mix of fur
trading, hunting, and farming.

The Mtis in the Fur Trade

The Mtis were very important to the
success of the fur trade. They were
employed at every trading post and
supplied buffalo meat to the people who
lived there. Many Mtis knew two or more
languages, so they often acted as
interpreters. They worked in all aspects of

Figure 8.6 A York boat. Reaching 12 metres in

length, the boat required six to eight rowers. If a
breeze was blowing, the boat flew along under
sail. It was too heavy to carry, so it was dragged
across the portages on wooden rollers. List some
advantages that the York boat had over the canoe.
Can you think of any disadvantages?

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The Mtis

the trade, as trappers, traders, and

freighters. To deliver the furs, the Mtis
rowed large York boats. These boats
replaced canoes as the main means of
transportation on western rivers and lakes.

An Independent People
The Cree called the Mtis the
Otipemisiwak [oh-tee-puh-MIH-soo-ak],
a word that means the people who
govern themselves, or the people who
are their own bosses. This term refers
to the fact that the Mtis often worked
for themselves as independent traders,
hunters, and farmers.

The Buffalo Hunt

The Mtis from Red River were expert
buffalo hunters. The hunt became the focus
of their way of life. Before setting out, they
chose a council to organize the hunt. They
also chose a set of captains to lead the hunt.
After the hunt, the women cut up the
meat. Back at camp, they spread it out to
dry and then pounded it into shreds. They
mixed the shredded meat with fat and
berries to create a food called pemmican.
The Mtis took the pemmican to the trading
posts, where they sold it to the fur traders.
Pemmican was a very important food for
people in the West. It could keep for years.
No explorer or fur trader would venture
onto the plains without a bag of it to eat.

Tech Link
Open the Voices
and Visions CD-ROM
to see a video called
The Country Wife.
This will give you an
idea of the lives of
women in nineteenthcentury Mtis society.

Figure 8.7 The Mtis invented a unique form of transportation called the Red River cart to haul buffalo
meat. These carts had large wooden wheels that were wrapped in buffalo hide. The cart was also used
as a boat. The wheels were removed and hooked to the bottom. Why do you think it became the most
dependable form of transportation in the Canadian West?

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Figure 8.8 Mtis Hunting Buffalo on

Horseback, painted by Paul Kane,
18481852. There were strict rules to
guide the buffalo hunt. The rules were
enforced by the captain and his
soldiers. Here are a few examples:
1. No hunting buffalo on Sunday
2. No lagging behind or going forward
without permission
3. No running buffalo before the general
order
The punishment for disobeying was
having your saddle and bridle cut up.
Why do you think it was so important to
the Mtis to have rules and follow them?

Many Mtis wore a long colourful sash

around their waist. When necessary, a
sash could become a dog harness, a
strap for carrying baggage, a washcloth,
or a bridle, for example. Over the years
the sash became an important symbol of
the Mtis identity. Today, Mtis who
make an important contribution to their
community receive the Order of the Sash.

Figure 8.9 LAssomption sash was named

after the town in Qubec where many were
made. Think of three things that symbolize
your identity. Find pictures of them or draw
them, and then explain your choices to the
class.

Think It
Through

176

1. As you have learned, the Mtis are

descendants of European or Canadien and
First Nations peoples. However, they have
an identity that is distinct from all of these
groups. Collect evidence from this section
and from other resources to make a poster
that supports this statement.

2. Citizenship and Identity: What different

groups are there in your community?
Choose one of these groups and
investigate how the people express their
identity and keep it strong. Consider the
three factors we have discussed: shared
language, arts, and economy.

ChapterChapter
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The Mtis

Conflict at Red River

n the early 1800s, a Scottish nobleman

named Lord Selkirk bought a huge
piece of land from the Hudsons Bay
Company. It was located where the
Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet in
How did the arrival
present-day Manitoba. He brought
of colonists threaten
dozens of families to the land from
the identity of the
the Highlands of Scotland, where
Red River Mtis?
they were being forced off their
farms to make room for sheep pastures.
Selkirk hoped that the Highland Scots would
be able to turn the land at Red River into a
great farming colony.
However, as you have just learned,
this land was not empty. A large Mtis
community was already living there. In this
section you will examine the conflict that
developed between the new colonists and
the Red River Mtis. You will also assess the

Focus

Assiniboia (Red River Colony)

impact of these events on development in

the West.

Mtis Reaction to the

Colonists[]
The Mtis had no legal papers to say they
owned the land they had been farming for
more than 100 years. They feared the
colonists would try to push them off their
farms. The Mtis were also concerned that
their way of life could be overrun by the
British culture of the colonists.
The North West Company employees
(called NorWesters), who were allied with
the Mtis, also opposed the colony. The
North West Company was competing
against the Hudsons Bay Company for
control of the fur trade. The employees
believed that the Hudsons Bay Company
had sent Selkirk and the colonists to disrupt
their trade.

Conflict over Resources]

Figure 8.10 The Hudsons Bay Company territory in Western

Canada was known as Ruperts Land. This map shows the
boundaries of the Selkirk colony. Officially, it was called Assiniboia
[uh-sih-nih-BOY-uh], but it was commonly called the Red River
Colony. Why might the location and size of this new colony be a
concern for the Mtis?

While the colonists prepared the land to

grow their first crops, they relied on the
buffalo as food. The governor of the colony
worried that his colonists would starve if
too much buffalo meat left the colony. So,
in 1814, he banned the Mtis from
exporting any meat, fish, or vegetables
from Red River. This order was known as
the Pemmican Proclamation.
The NorWesters and the Red River
Mtis were outraged! The buffalo meat trade
was a very important part of the Mtis
identity and economy. Yet, the newcomers
had put a stop to this trade without
discussing it with the Mtis.
Together the NorWesters and the Mtis
set about driving the Selkirk colonists from

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AND VISIONS

the area. They stole farm equipment and

horses, and they shot off their guns to
frighten the settlers. A series of natural
disasters, including a locust infestation,
made matters worse for the Scottish
colonists. In the summer of 1815 many of
them loaded their belongings into canoes
and left.

Battle of Seven Oaks ]

The tensions between the remaining
Scottish colonists and the Mtis remained
high. In June 1816, a group of Mtis led by
Cuthbert Grant was passing by Fort Douglas.
The fort was the headquarters of the colony.
The governor, Robert Semple, led an armed
group out of the fort to challenge Grant.
The two sides faced each other near a
grove of oak trees beside the Red River.
Angry words were exchanged. Suddenly, a
shot rang out! Fierce fighting followed, and

A Story of Canada

within a few minutes a Mtis and 21

colonists lay dead.
Eventually, many of the key people
involved in these incidents were arrested
and put on trial. An investigation showed
that one of the settlers was the first to open
fire at Seven Oaks. The issues dividing the
colonists, the Mtis, and the fur-trading
companies remained.
The Battle of Seven Oaks was the first
time the Mtis stood up as a united group
against the Canadian government. Country
Born Mtis joined with the Francophone
Mtis to defend their common interests.
This event marked the beginning of the
Mtis nation.

Migration Further West]

In 1821, the Hudsons Bay Company took
over its rival, the North West Company. This
meant that the Red River Colony and all the

Figure 8.11 Battle of Seven Oaks, 1816, by Charles W. Jefferys. Analyze this painting using Skill Check:
Interpret Images (page 6). Determine what biases, if any, are present in this scene.

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The Mtis

land surrounding it now belonged to the

British. There would be no further violent
clashes between the two fur-trading
companies. Red River recovered from its
troubled beginnings. It grew into a stable
community. Not all the Mtis were content
to stay, however.
One important business for the Red
River Mtis was the buffalo robe trade. As
you know, the Mtis had long hunted the
buffalo. During the 1840s, there was
increased demand for the furry hide of the
animals. The hides were made into blankets
and coats. Buffalo fur was thickest during
the coldest months. Therefore, Mtis
hunters and their families spent the winter
on the plains close to the herds.

As the buffalo began to die out,

hunters had to travel very far from the Red
River Colony to find a herd. As a result,
many Mtis were away from their homes
and farms in Red River for most of the year.
Some gave up farming in favour of hunting
buffalo out on the plains. They migrated, or
moved, west and set up communities such
as Batoche (near Duck Lake, Saskatchewan)
and St. Albert (in Alberta). They also settled
in the Cypress Hills in southern
Saskatchewan. Catholic missionaries who
ran churches and schools joined the Mtis
in these new communities. These were
some of the earliest Francophone
communities in Western Canada.

Figure 8.12 A caravan of Red River Mtis on the way to hunt buffalo. It was painted by the Toronto artist
Paul Kane, who took part in a hunt during a visit to Red River in 1846. Create a cause-and-effect flow
diagram to explain the development of Mtis settlements in present-day Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Think It
Through

a) How did the Selkirk colonists and the

Hudsons Bay Company show a lack of
respect for the Mtis identity and way
of life?
b) How did the Mtis respond to this threat
to their identity?

c) Can you think of any other ways the Mtis

and the colonists could have tried to
resolve the conflict?
d) How do Canadians resolve conflicts like
this today?

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Red River Resistance, 1869

he Red River Mtis felt that Ruperts

Land belonged to them. They had been
living there with their families for
over 100 years. Their livelihood
How did the
depended on being able to farm,
conflicting points
trap animals, and hunt buffalo
of view between
in this vast territory. However,
the Mtis and the
the government of Canada was
government affect
beginning to see it as a good
the identity of
place to send more European
the Mtis and
colonists. This section investigates
the future of
these differing perspectives on
Ruperts Land?
Ruperts Land.

Focus

Canada Takes an
Interest in the West ]
For many years, outsiders believed that the
prairies were barren lands that could not be

farmed. This vast territory, known as

Ruperts Land, was left to the Aboriginal
people who lived there.
Things began to change during the
1850s. In 1857, the Canadian government
sent scientific teams to the West. They
wanted to learn about the climate and
resources of the area. The scientists reported
that parts of Ruperts Land were well suited
to farming. They also said the land had a
wealth of natural resources. Suddenly,
outsiders started to take notice of the West.
At the same time, good farmland was
becoming scarce in Ontario. People began to
look outside central Canada for new areas to
colonize. Ruperts Land looked like just such
a place. Many Ontarians felt it was time for
Ruperts Land to join Canada.

Figure 8.13 The scientific expeditions collected all sorts of information about the West, including
photographs. This photo, by H.L. Hime, shows members of the Canadian Exploring Expedition at a camp
on the Red River in June 1858. What other forms of information do you think the explorers brought back
with them? Why was this information so important to the Canadian government?

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The Mtis

Points of View on
the West ]
Different people in Canada had different
ideas about the future of the West.

Let the merchants of Toronto consider

that if their city is ever to be made really
greatif it is ever to rise above the rank
of a fifth-rate American townit must
be by the development of the great British
territory lying to the north and west.
George Brown

I am perfectly willing to leave Ruperts

Land a wilderness for the next half
century, but I fear that if the Canadians
do not go in, the Yankees will, and with
that fear I would gladly see a crown
colony established there.

Source: The Globe

newspaper,
26 December
1856.

John A. Macdonald, 1865

Source: J. Bradley Cruxton and
W. Douglas Wilson, Flashback Canada
(Toronto: Oxford University Press,
2000), p. 82.

Figure 8.15 Sir John A.

Macdonald was the first Prime
Minister of Canada. He served
from 1867 to 1873 and from
1878 to 1891.

Figure 8.14 George Brown was owner

and publisher of Canadas first national
newspaper, The Globe. He was also a
politician in Ontario and a supporter of
western expansion.

This is our land! It isnt a piece of

pemmican to be cut off and given in little
pieces to us. It is ours and we will take
what we want.

Pitikwahanapiwiyin
(Poundmaker), 1874

Source: Peter Erasmus, Buffalo Days and

Nights (Calgary: Fitzhenry & Whiteside,
1974), p. 244.

Figure 8.16 Pitikwahanapiwiyin, known

in English as Poundmaker, was a wellrespected Cree leader at the time Ruperts
Land was being sold to Canada. He voiced
the concerns of many First Nations people
living in the region.

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182

A Story of Canada

Ruperts Land Joins

Canada ]

struck a deal. Canada purchased the

territory from the HBC for $1.5 million.

By the 1860s, the Red River Colony was

connected by a steamboat route to
Minnesota in the United States. A trickle of
American newcomers was arriving. Trade
with the US was growing steadily. Some
people in Ontario who favoured western
expansion and some British colonists in Red
River began to worry that if Canada did not
quickly claim Ruperts Land, the United
States would.
Following Confederation in 1867, the
government of Canada began talks with the
Hudsons Bay Company. In 1869, they

Fears of Assimilation ]

Figure 8.17 The Mtis divided up their farmland

in river lots, similar to the seigneurial system
used in Qubec. This method allowed the families
to live closer together. It also gave each farm
access to the water, which was used for travel.
The government surveyors wanted to re-divide
the land into square lots. How would this plan
have affected the Mtis community?

The Red River

Resistance, 1869 []

Now Canada claimed to own Ruperts Land.

The First Nations and Mtis living there felt
uncertain about their future. They had not
been consulted about the sale of the land.
The West belonged to them, they said. It
could not be bought and sold by outsiders.
The First Nations and Mtis were also
worried about assimilation. Assimilation is
a process by which a culture or individual is
absorbed into another culture. Sometimes
whole cultures or individual members may
assimilate by choice. In this case, members
of the culture freely adopt another groups
culture and language. But sometimes
assimilation is forced on people. The
Aboriginal peoples worried that they would
be forced to give up their way of life. They
feared they would become like the Englishspeaking newcomers who were moving into
the West. They had many questions:
Would there be a role for Mtis and First
Nations in the new government?
Would the Red River Mtis be able to
keep their French language and Catholic
religion?
Would they be able to keep their farms
and way of life?
Would English-speaking Protestants from
the East overwhelm them?
At that time, there were few answers.

Canada was ready to take control of

Ruperts Land on 1 December 1869. Just
before this, the federal government sent
surveyors to Red River. Their job was to

ChapterChapter
88

The Mtis

prepare the land for the expected rush of

farming colonists. The government did not
warn the local First Nations and Mtis that
the surveyors would be coming in October
of 1869. So, when the Mtis saw these
strangers measuring lots along the river,
they confronted them and asked them to
explain what they were doing. However, the
surveyors spoke only English and the
French-speaking Mtis could not
understand them. So, they sent for one of
their fellow villagers, a Mtis named Louis
Riel, who spoke French, English, and Cree
fluently. Riel stopped the surveyors in their
tracks and told them to leave Red River
immediately.
Although they had bought themselves
some time, the Mtis knew the surveyors
would be back. In the meantime, they had
to decide how they would protect their land
from what they saw as a foreign
government. The Mtis were used to
governing themselves. They set up a
National Committee to protect their right to
the land. Louis Riel became an important

member of the committee. He was a

member of a well-known Mtis family in the
Francophone community of St. Boniface.
Riel was a devout Roman Catholic who had
been studying to be a priest in Montral.
In December the Mtis took control of
Fort Garry, a major fur-trade centre in
Manitoba. There they established a Mtis
Provisional Government (provisional is
another word for temporary). They chose
Louis Riel, a 25-year-old Mtis who was
passionate about his peoples rights, to be
president.

Mtis Bill of Rights [

If they had no choice about joining Canada,
the Mtis at least wanted to negotiate terms.
The provisional government drew up a Bill
of Rights to present to the government of
Canada. It was a clear attempt to protect the
varied interests of the peoples already living
in the territory. It was also a clear demand
for certain provincial powers, such as the
right to elect a legislature.

Either French or English would be used in

the Legislature. Government documents
would be printed in both languages.
Laws for the new province would be
decided by the residents.
The Mtis would keep the rights to their
land.
Local officials (sheriffs, magistrates,
school commissioners, and so on) would
be elected by the local people.
Figure 8.18 This image shows the Mtis National Committee in
1869. Louis Riel is seated in the centre of the middle row. He
became the leader of the Mtis resistance to the governments
takeover. What qualities made Riel an effective leader for the
Mtis?

The federal government would negotiate

treaties with the First Nations living
there.

183

VOICES VOICES
AND VISIONS
AND VISIONS

French and English

Canada Take Sides [
Not everyone in Red River supported the
Mtis resistance. Members of the Canada
Party, for example, were looking forward
to the Canadian takeover. This group was
made up of English-speakers originally from
Ontario or Britain, and they were furious
at the actions of the Francophone Mtis.
Some of them took up arms against the
provisional government. The
Mtis put them in jail. One of
To see images of
these prisoners was Thomas
Louis Riel at different
Scott, a 28-year-old labourer
stages of his life, open
from Ontario. Scott threatened to
Chapter 8 on your
kill Riel and insulted his Mtis
Voices and Visions
guards until they lost patience
CD-ROM.
with him. He was put on trial,
found guilty, and placed in front
of a firing squad. It is still unclear today
whether the guards were ordered only to
scare Scott or to fire at him. Nevertheless,
he was shot and killed.

Tech Link

Think It
Through

1. At the time and since, some people have

called the creation of the provisional
government in Red River a rebellion. This
text uses the term resistance. Consult your
dictionary and discuss as a class the
differences between these two terms.
Then, write your own answers to the
following:
a) Why did the Mtis feel they needed the
provisional government?
b) Were the Mtis trying to overthrow the
government of Canada?
c) Were the Mtis attempting to set up an
independent nation of their own?

184

A Story of Canada

The Anglophone Perspective

Scott was an English-speaking Protestant.
His death set the huge British population of
Ontario against the Mtis Provisional
Government. Newspapers in Ontario called
for revenge against the Mtis leaders who
were responsible.

The Francophone Perspective

The Canadiens in Qubec reacted
differently. The Red River Mtis were
mainly Francophone Roman Catholics.
(Remember, for example, that Louis Riel
was a Francophone who had been educated
to be a priest.) Because of this, many
Canadiens saw the Mtis as defenders of
the Francophone Catholic way of life in the
West. The Canadiens took up the cause of
the Mtis as their own and demanded that
they be given their rights.
The conflict between the Francophone
Mtis and English-speaking colonists in the
West revived the old anger between the
English-speaking Protestants in Ontario and
the French-speaking Roman Catholics in
Qubec. The situation at Red River
threatened to become a national crisis.

d) Why do you think the Mtis people today

refer to this event as a resistance?
2. a) Why do you think people might fear
assimilation? Create a web diagram to
show your thinking, or write a short
opinion piece following the guidelines in
the Skill Check feature on page 170.
b) Do some research at the library or on
the Internet to find out about some
Mtis organizations that promote
Mtis identity today. Give a short
description of one of them, and explain
its importance to the Mtis community
it serves.

ChapterChapter
88

The Mtis

The Creation of Manitoba

rime Minister John A. Macdonald

wanted to find a solution that would
seem to please all sides in the Red River
crisis. The Mtis Provisional
Government sent representatives to
What impact did
Ottawa with its Bill of Rights. The
the Red River
prime minister recognized the
Mtis have on the
provisional government as legal.
creation of the
He met with them and agreed to
province of
almost all the items on the list. In
Manitoba?
July 1870 the government passed
the Manitoba Act, which created
the province of Manitoba.
But this solution was not as easy as it
sounds. This section investigates the
compromises that were necessary to bring
Manitoba into Canada.

Focus

The Manitoba Act

The Manitoba Act created Canadas fifth
province. Some of the important terms of
the Act were the following:
Manitoba would have its own provincial
government.

Both French and English would be used

in the government and courts.
The province would be able to send four
elected members to the House of
Commons in Ottawa and two members to
the Senate.
There would be two publicly funded
school systems, one for Protestants and
one for Catholics. (It would be similar to
the school system in Qubec, which was
meant to meet the needs of both the
French-speaking Catholic majority and
the English-speaking Protestant minority.)
An area of land (560 000 hectares) would
be set aside for the Mtis to use.
The natural resources of the new
province would remain under the control
of the federal government. (This meant
that unclaimed land, for example,
belonged to Ottawa.)
The Canadian government promised to
grant a pardon to any Mtis who had been
involved in the resistance at Red River.
However, in the end, a pardon was not
included in the Manitoba Act.

Manitoba, 1870

Figure 8.19 Manitoba occupied only a small portion

of what had been Ruperts Land. The rest passed into
the hands of the Canadian government. This larger
area was called the North-West Territories, and it
was ruled by officials appointed by the government
of Canada. Compare this map to a modern map of
Manitoba. How has it changed?

185

VOICES VOICES
AND VISIONS
AND VISIONS

Soldiers on the March []

At the same time as he discussed Mtis
terms, the prime minister sent 1200 soldiers
to Red River. The government
said that the soldiers were meant
To see a series of
to keep the peace in the new
10 images about the
province. Their job was also to
Red River Expedition
defend the territory in case the
from Ontario to Red
United States tried to claim it. But
River, open Chapter 8
many of the soldiers were
on your Voices and
Ontario volunteers who thought
Visions CD-ROM.
their job was to punish the Mtis
and capture Louis Riel. I should
like to hang him from the highest tree, said
the commander of the troops.

Tech Link

A Story of Canada

Knowing that he was in danger, Riel

escaped across the border into the United
States. Later, the federal government agreed
not to put him on trial for the death of
Thomas Scott. However, it did banish him
from Canada for five years. (While Riel was
away the people of Manitoba showed their
continued support for him by electing him
to Parliament in Ottawa even though he
could not serve there.)
Meanwhile, some of the soldiers took
out their anger on the Mtis when they
arrived at Red River. Several Mtis were
killed. Others were jailed and beaten. It was
a sour beginning for the new province.

Figure 8.20 This painting from 1877 by Frances Hopkins, the wife of a fur trader, shows the military
force making its way from Ontario. It took them 13 weeks to reach Manitoba. Do you think sending the
military to Red River was a good decision, or did it make things worse? Explain your thinking.

Think It
Through

1. The Manitoba Act was a compromise

between the different parties involved in
the dispute at Red River. Make an
organizational chart to show what each of
the following groups achieved from the
compromise: First Nations, Mtis, Englishspeaking residents, and Francophones.
2. Compare and contrast the federal
governments Manitoba Act and the Mtis

186

Bill of Rights. (You may want to refer to

Skill Check: Compare and Contrast on
page 54 before beginning.)
a) Create a chart that compares the two
under different headings: language
rights, education, political
representation, and so on.
b) Assess the success of the Mtis in
gaining their rights.

ChapterChapter
88

The Mtis

Second Mtis Uprising, 1885

he creation of the province of

Manitoba did not solve all the
concerns of the Mtis and First Nations.
There were still disagreements
over land ownership. Also, the
What was Louis
Mtis fears of assimilation grew as
Riels role in
more and more newcomers
preserving the
flooded into the area.
Mtis identity?
This section explores what
happened after the government
ignored the Aboriginal peoples complaints.
You will also investigate how the
government managed to gain even greater
control over the West.

Focus

Read this section of the chapter with a partner.

One of you will be the reader and the other will
be the coach. First, the reader reads a paragraph
out loud. Then, the coach summarizes the main
idea of the paragraph in his or her own words.
Continue through the section, switching roles for
each paragraph.

Anglophones that Manitoba would become

a place of English-speaking, Protestant
farmers. Feeling cheated and frustrated,
many Mtis left Manitoba to move farther
west and north where they could live as
hunters, trappers, and farmers. As the
buffalo began to disappear from the plains,
the Mtis turned to other ways of making a
living, such as ranching, logging, and
running small businesses.
In some of these new Western
settlements, the Mtis set up their own
governments with their own laws. The
village of St. Laurent, on the South
Saskatchewan River, was one example.
Gabriel Dumont became president, and an
elected council collected taxes and
governed the community. The laws in the
community were based on the traditional
rules of the buffalo hunt (see Figure 8.8),
with additional laws for keeping the peace.
In other words, the Mtis were looking after
their own affairs as they had always done.
But to outsiders, it seemed as if they were
opposing the Canadian government.

Problems Persist []

Mtis and First Nations

Grievances []

When Manitoba was created, land was set

aside for the Mtis. Each family was
supposed to receive a scrip giving them
ownership to about 240 acres (97 hectares).
(A scrip is like a coupon.) But the system did
not work well, and many Mtis did not
receive their land.
Newcomers from the East did not
show respect for the Mtis identity and
way of life. They wanted to build a society
in Manitoba that was similar to Ontarios.
They dreamed of bringing in so many

By the 1880s the Mtis faced a number of

challenges to their way of life, such as
starvation and poverty that resulted from
the drastically reduced buffalo population.
The First Nations people were facing similar
threats. In response, many First Nations
people had no other option but to make
treaties with the Canadian government.
You will read more about those treaties in
Chapter 12. The Mtis were sometimes
allowed to join a First Nations treaty, but
they did not qualify for their own treaties.

187

VOICES VOICES
AND VISIONS
AND VISIONS

A Story of Canada

Mtis Concerns

First Nations Concerns

Some Mtis felt that they had been

cheated out of their land in Manitoba.
Outside of Manitoba, land ownership was
unclear. Some of the Mtis were living on
property that had also been claimed by the
Hudsons Bay Company or the railway
company.
Newcomers were moving into the West,
and the Mtis feared losing their land and
jobs. They also feared being assimilated
into the new society that was emerging.
The buffalo were disappearing due to overhunting. The livelihoods of many Mtis
were disappearing along with them.
The federal government was ignoring their
problems. The Mtis sent 15 petitions to
Ottawa that were not answered.

The government had not kept some of the

promises it had made to provide food
rations and farming equipment.
The buffalo were disappearing due to overhunting by outsiders.
Some First Nations people were starving,
in part because the government restricted
their movements. This made it difficult for
them to hunt and find food. The
government owed them food rations as
repayment, but none were given.
With the arrival of so many newcomers,
they worried that they would not be able to
hold on to what little land was left to them.
Some First Nations leaders wanted a large
territory where their people could live
together. The government, however, forced
the people to live on small reserves
separate from each other.

The Government Ignores Warnings

Figure 8.21 After hunters killed the buffalo, bone-pickers collected

the skeletons. They shipped them to the East where they were
ground up and used to make a variety of products. Recall what you
have learned about the importance of the buffalo to the way of life
of Western First Nations and Mtis. In small groups, discuss the
impact of the disappearance of the buffalo on these peoples.
Compare ideas with the other groups.

188

Government officials working in the area

that would one day become Saskatchewan
were aware of the growing tension in
Manitoba. They offered advice to Ottawa
about how to avoid another Mtis uprising.
However, the federal politicians would not
listen. They were focused on what they
considered a more important issuethe
westward expansion of the Canadian Pacific
Railway (CPR). The building of this railway
through the prairies was a priority for
Ottawa because it would encourage more
colonists to move onto the prairies and
develop the land.

Riel Returns []
The Mtis and First Nations sent at least
15 petitions to Ottawa to address their
concerns (outlined in the chart above). The
government ignored all of them. In the
summer of 1884, a group of Mtis, led by
Gabriel Dumont, travelled to the United

ChapterChapter
88

The Mtis

States and invited Louis Riel back to

Canada. The Mtis were angry and
impatient that the government was not
doing anything about their complaints.
They wanted Riel to be their voice.
Led by Riel, the Mtis set up their own
government at the community of Batoche.
From there, they sent a Bill of Rights to
Ottawa. Among other things, they wanted
the land issue solved and two new
provinces created west of Manitoba. They
also demanded more food rations for the
First Nations. When nothing happened, Riel
suggested they take up arms. Many Mtis
didnt want to go to battle because they
knew they would be outnumbered.
However, Dumont was a strong supporter of
Riel. Many Mtis respected Dumont, and so
they decided to join the uprising. Dumont
was named general of the Mtis forces.

The Government Reacts ]

The federal government rushed thousands
of soldiers west aboard the newly built
railway. This army advanced on the Mtis
village of Batoche. Many Mtis women
remained in the village during the battle to
help in whatever way they could. They
carried food, messages, and supplies to the
men. They melted down lead plates to make
bullets. It wasnt long before the Mtis ran
out of bullets and were firing stones and
nails.
After three days of fighting, the 200 to
300 Mtis and their Cree and Dakota allies
surrendered. The resistance was over. A
total of 53 soldiers from Ontario died in the
fighting, and 118 were injured. Thirty-five
First Nations and Mtis people were killed.

Rising in Arms []
The Northwest Resistance of 1885 was
violent, but brief. On 26 March, the Mtis
defeated a group of North West Mounted
Police at a place called Duck Lake, forcing the
police to retreat. A few days later, a group of
Cree joined the resistance. At Frog Lake they
killed nine people and captured a police
post. The police and neighbourhood farm
families were allowed to leave unharmed.

When reading sections of text, it is sometimes

helpful to try to picture in your head the people
and events being described. If you prefer, you
could draw sketches on paper to illustrate what
you have read. This could be done in a
storyboard format, which is similar to the series
of boxed drawings in newspaper cartoons.

Figure 8.22 Gabriel Dumont (18381906) was the

military general for the Mtis. He was a famous
buffalo hunter who could speak French, English,
and six First Nations languages. Louis Riel was
the heart of the Mtis people, and Dumont was
their sword is a historical saying of unknown
origin. Explain this saying in your own words.

189

VOICES VOICES
AND VISIONS
AND VISIONS

A Story of Canada

ography
BiBiography
Mistahimaskwa, Leader of the Cree
(18251887)
Cree Leader Mistahimaskwa, known in English
as Big Bear, headed the largest group of Cree on
the Plains (in the area around Frog Lake). He
was very suspicious of the outsiders who were
coming into the West. In 1883, Mistahimaskwa
spoke to a council of Cree elders and a visiting
government agent.
Long before the advent of the Palefaces this
vast land was the hunting ground of my
people, this land was then the hunting ground
of the Plains and the Wood Crees, my fathers. It
was then teeming with buffalo and we were
happy. This fair Land is now the land of the
white manthe land of the stranger. Our Big
Game is no more. You now own our millions of
acresaccording to treaty papersas long as
grass grows on the prairies or water runs in
our big Rivers. We have no food. We live not
like the white man, nor are we like the Indians
who live on fowl and fish. True, we are promised great things, but they seem far off and we
cannot live and wait.
Source: Robert S. Allen, The Breaking of Big Bear,
Horizon Canada, vol. 5 (1987), p. 1191.

He hoped to form an alliance of all the

First Nations so that they would be stronger in
their dealings with the government. He feared
that his people would lose their freedom, and
their land, if they made a treaty. The
government promised food rations as part of
the treaty agreement. In the end, the starvation
of his people forced Mistahimaskwa to sign.

190

Even as conditions for his people got

worse, Mistahimaskwa opposed the use of
violence. He hoped to solve the issues through
peaceful talks with the government. This did not
work. Instead, fearing trouble, the federal
government made it illegal for First Nations
people to leave their home reserves without
permission. Such permission could only be
granted by the government agent on each
reserve.
When the Mtis took up arms, a few Cree
people joined them against
Mistahimaskwas wishes.
After the resistance was
over, the soldiers
tracked down the
Cree group and
arrested its members.
Mistahimaskwa was
sent to jail for treason.
He was released in 1887
but died soon after.

Respond
1. Write a letter from the government
of Canada responding to
Mistahimaskwas speech.
2. Refer to the Skill Check feature
on page 170 to learn how to write
an opinion piece. Then, write a
few paragraphs stating your
opinion on the governments
treatment of Mistahimaskwa. If
you find you do not have enough
information to write your piece,
you should do some more
research on Mistahimaskwa
(Big Bear) on the Internet or at
the library.

ChapterChapter
88

The Mtis

Figure 8.23 This painting shows Canadian troops surrounding the

Mtis at Batoche. The Mtis held the soldiers off by firing at them
from the shelter of their trenches. In the end, the government troops
overran the town. Imagine you are a reporter covering the battle for
your newspaper. Write a story describing the scene, the colours, the
sounds, and the smells. Explain the background to the fighting.

The Fate of Louis Riel ]

number in Qubec. Macdonald knew that if

he sided with Ontario, his party would
likely win the election.
Finally, the prime minister made up his
mind. Riel shall hang though every dog in
Qubec shall bark, he was heard to say. On
16 November 1885, Riel was taken from his
Regina jail cell and hanged. When news
reached Qubec, flags were dropped to halfmast. Macdonald was burned in effigy in
the streets. The Canadiens blamed English
Canadians in Ontario for Riels death. The
Riel execution confirmed the suspicions of
the Canadiens that their Confederation
partnership with English Canada was
unequal.

The Government
Tightens Its Grip [
Once the uprising of 1885 was over, the
government finally responded to some of

Following the resistance, more than a dozen

Mtis ended up in prison. Louis Riel
surrendered and stood trial for treasonthe
betrayal of ones country. A jury found him
guilty and Riel was sentenced to hang.
Prime Minister Macdonald could have
stepped in and saved Riels life. Twice
Macdonald delayed the execution while he
debated what to do.
Macdonalds government was heading
into a federal election after the trial.
Whatever decision he made, it would cost
his party votes. However, the number of
voters in Ontario was larger than the
Macdonalds Dilemma
Many Ontarians thought the
Mtis leader Louis Riel was
a traitor and a murderer.
They wanted him hanged.

Canadiens considered Riel a

hero. They thought of him as
a defender of French
language rights and the
Catholic religion in the West.

Figure 8.24 Analyze this cartoon using the Skill

Check feature on page 218. Explain the cartoon. Is
it effective, in your opinion? Support your opinion
with reasons.

191

VOICES VOICES
AND VISIONS
AND VISIONS

the complaints that had led to it. The NorthWest Territories did not become
two new provinces as the Mtis
had demanded in their Bill of
To learn more about
Rights. The government began
Mistahimaskwa
issuing scrip (certificates for
(Big Bear) and
land) again to Mtis people at
Pitikwahanapiwiyin
Red River. However, the Mtis
(Poundmaker) and
remembered how difficult it was
their efforts on behalf
to actually obtain their land the
of their people, open
last time scrip was issued. So,
Chapter 8 on your
this time they sold their scrip,
Voices and Visions
often for much less than it was
CD-ROM.
worth.

Tech Link

Figure 8.25 This photograph shows Louis Riel (standing, centre) at

his trial. Riel was found guilty of treason. What did Prime Minister
Macdonald mean when he said, Riel shall hang though every dog
in Qubec shall bark?

Think It
Through

192

1. Make a chart to compare the Red River

Resistance (1869) to the Second Mtis
Uprising (1885). You may want to refer to
Skill Check: Compare and Contrast on
page 54 before beginning.
a) Compare the issues and concerns that
led to each resistance. Compare the
government responses in both cases.
Also compare the outcomes of each
resistance.

A Story of Canada

Aboriginal people in the West were

punished for their role in the resistance.
Along with the Mtis, 44 First Nations men
were found guilty of crimes. Eight of them
were hanged; the rest were sent to prison.
Only a few First Nations had joined the
resistance, but whole communities were
punished severely by having their
government food rations stopped even
though, in all of Canada, there were only
100 buffalo left. First Nations people were
told to stay on their reserves unless they
had permission from a government agent to
travel. These restrictions on the First
Nations opened up the land to more
European farmers. It also allowed the
government to continue expanding the CPR
without fear of another resistance.
As an independent nation, the Mtis
had tried to deal peacefully with Canada.
They wanted rights equal to those enjoyed
by people in other provinces, but the
government ignored their requests. The
outcome of the resistance set back the
Mtis and their struggle to be recognized
as a distinct people. The government of
Canada, backed by the army, gained firm
control of the West. Many of the issues that
led to the violence of 1885 would remain
unsettled in the years to come.

b) Were some of the factors the same?

What do you think is the most important
difference between the two events?
Explain your answer.
2. a) What compromises were made by the
Mtis, First Nations, and Francophone
and English peoples in order to create
the province of Manitoba?
b) How would each group have felt about
the final outcome?

ChapterChapter
88

The Mtis

Chapter 8

PROJECT

rom his own day to the present, Louis Riel

has been a person of controversy.

To us, you are the valiant leader of this population

that is strongly confident that, God willing, you will
one day bring to victory our just claims.
Residents of the Mtis community of
St-Louis de Langevin, 1885
Source: Letter in the Riel Papers, Manitoba Archives,
cited in Maggie Siggins, Riel: A Life of Revolution,
(Toronto: HarperCollins, 1995), p. 364.

Had I been born on the banks of the Saskatchewan,

I would myself have shouldered a musket to fight
against the neglect of the government and the
shameless greed of speculators.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, future prime minister,
after Riels hanging in 1885
Source: Peter Russell, Laurier and the Prairie West.
www.collectionscanada.ca/04/042423_e.html.

Louis Riel, Mtis leader, executed November 16, 1885,

political martyr! Guilty of having loved his oppressed
compatriots! Victim of fanaticism, to which politicians
without soul and without heart have sacrificed him.
A poster handed out in Qubec, 1885
Source: R. Douglas Francis, et al.,
Destinies: Canadian History Since Confederation
(Toronto: Harcourt Brace Canada, 2000), p. 96.

Grievances did not give anyone the right to organize

and lead a rebellion in which more than a hundred
died.
Desmond Morton, historian, 1998
Source: Ottawa Citizen, 22 January 1998.

And the province of Manitoba? Without our

provisional government it would still be nothing more
than a colony tied to the apron strings of Canada.
I deserve to be called the Father of Manitoba.
Louis Riel, August 1885
Source: Quoted in the Montral newspaper
the Weekly Star, August 1885.

Writing an Opinion Piece on Louis Riel

This chapter project challenges you to analyze
this historical issue in order to form and support
an opinion.

State Your Position]

Using Skill Check: Develop an Opinion (page
170) as your guide, write a one-page opinion
piece on the issue: Was Louis Riel a hero, a
traitor, or neither?

Research for Evidence ]

Review the details in Chapter 8 that provide
facts, figures, and quotations to support your
opinion. Take notes in your own words. Identify
direct quotes with quotation marks, and include
the page numbers where they are found.
You may also need to review information
found on the Internet or at your local library.

Organize Your Opinion Piece

Before you begin writing, organize your ideas
using an outline or graphic organizer.

Write Your Opinion Piece ]

Write a strong opening paragraph. Follow it with
facts to support your opinion. Conclude with a
thought-provoking summary. Create a title that
sums up your opinion in a few words.

Polish and Present [

In a small group, share your writing. Use informal
debate to discuss the differing viewpoints
regarding the issue. Take note of comments,
concerns, and questions raised by other students.
Decide if your piece needs more work, and then
revise accordingly. Do a final proofread. Present
your opinion piece in writing or as a speech.

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